Black’s Bar & Kitchen gets a glamorous revamp

Wednesday, July 5, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Brian Lewis⁄The Gazette Giving new direction to Black’s Bar & Kitchen are from left, standing: chef Mallory Buford and Jon Linck, director of operations; seated: owners Jeff and Barbara Black, and general manager Ashley Levin. They are assembled in the walk-in wine room.

Originally opened in 1999, Black’s reopened June 26 following a renovation that cost $2.7 million and kept the restaurant closed for nearly four months.

‘‘Restaurants can become static and staid,” Black observes. ‘‘If you lose the excitement, the marketplace can lose interest.”

Therefore, he adds, ‘‘We decided to take the plunge and do it right. It was quite a project.”

He worked with architects Griz Dwight and Keisha Banks of D.C.-based GrizForm Design to create an ambiance that is both modern and nature-inspired, starting with the sleek patio in front of the glass entrance.

‘‘The very day we took the property, I said ‘This deck has got to go,’” referring to the previous façade.

The new patio incorporates multiple textures, including black pebbles, a reflecting pool, redwood blocks and Italian tiles.

Inside, Black decided on a vineyard for the mural because of its organic feel. Opposite the back-lit mural, a walk-in wine room holds the restaurant’s extensive collection of red wines, as well as back-up white wines and stemware, at 55 degrees. Black also plans to use the wine room for organic tomatoes because the farmer who supplies them suggests they need a controlled temperature.

The changes also reinvigorate the staff, Black says, because they’re asked to do more in the restaurant’s new format.

Black’s Bar & Kitchen 7750 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda 301-652-5525 www.blacksbarandkitchen.com Modern American Cuisine Hours: Dinner: Mon., Wed., Thurs. 5:30 p.m.-10 p.m.; (bar 11 p.m.); Fri.-Sat. 5:30–11 p.m. (bar to midnight); Sun. 5:30–9:30 p.m. (bar, to 10:30 p.m.); Lunch: Mon., Wed.–Sat. 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Light bar fare served through late afternoon. Brunch: Sun. 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Closed Tuesday Entrees: $14-$26 MC, V, AMEX Accessible

To coincide with the restaurant’s redesign, executive chef Mallory Buford created a new menu of seafood, steak and game. The chef, who studied at the Culinary Institute of America, says he likes to give classical dishes a new spin. Inspiration for new menu items often comes ‘‘from eating,” he says. ‘‘I go out to eat a lot and read a lot.”

The menu, which includes a la carte dishes prepared on the kitchen’s new hardwood grill, as well as a raw bar, small-plate items and elaborate desserts, changes from season to season.

‘‘There’s a soft shell appetizer I like a lot,” Buford says. The dish is tempura with melon relish in season, dressed with mustard and mint.

One benefit of being a chef working in an open kitchen, he notes, is the instant gratification from seeing customers enjoy their dinners.

General manager Ashley Levin, who started with the company five years ago as a server at Addie’s on Rockville Pike, says her work ‘‘is never boring.”

Because the restaurant has more seating and is open for lunch now, she had to more than double the staff.

‘‘We look for enthusiasm and passion,” Levin says. ‘‘We want to make sure they’ll take care of the guests the way we’d like to be taken care of.”

Black Restaurant Group operates four restaurants, including its first, Addie’s, in Rockville; Black Market Bistro in Garrett Park; and Black Salt Fish Market and Restaurant in the Foxhall neighborhood of D.C.

‘‘Every one of the restaurants is completely different,” Buford says.

Black chose Montgomery County to open his first restaurant because it’s where he lives and where his wife (and co-owner) is from. He also noticed many customers at the D.C. restaurant where he worked at the time lived in Montgomery County.

‘‘It seemed like common sense to bring the restaurants to where the people live,” Black explains.

When selecting a new site, a sense of community is a primary factor. Above all, he says, ‘‘We only want to be in a neighborhood where we feel my wife is safe leaving at the end of the night.”

Black sees the restaurant business as a lifestyle.

‘‘You either commit to it, or you fail,” he says. ‘‘There is no coasting. It’s all uphill, and there’s no crest.”

He got his start at age 13, by accident, when he tagged along on a friend’s job interview at Aldo’s Italian Restaurant in Houston and ended up getting the job.

‘‘I already had a job,” Black recalls, ‘‘but this beat having a paper route.”